U.S. patent number 3,669,413 [Application Number 05/087,979] was granted by the patent office on 1972-06-13 for electrical fence construction.
Invention is credited to Ralph L. Laible.
United States Patent |
3,669,413 |
Laible |
June 13, 1972 |
ELECTRICAL FENCE CONSTRUCTION
Abstract
There is described electrical fencing comprising a plurality of
upright elongate fence posts, each fence post comprising an upright
rigid metallic-rod adapted to be embedded into the earth, said
metallic-rod carrying an uprightly extending resinous
electrically-insulative resinous sheath disposed at an elevation
common to the fencing current-carrying conductor wire(s). Although
the conductor wire might be tied directly to the fence post
external resinous sheath, preferably an intervening C-shaped
wire-connector member is utilized which is removably frictionally
engaged at a selectable continuum of elevations along the fence
post sheath. The lower portion of the fence post might include an
angular anchor-plate admirably suited to maintain the fence post
perpendicular to the earth's surface.
Inventors: |
Laible; Ralph L. (Omaha,
NB) |
Family
ID: |
22208390 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/087,979 |
Filed: |
November 9, 1970 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
256/10; 256/47;
256/50; 174/158F |
Current CPC
Class: |
A01K
3/005 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
A01K
3/00 (20060101); E01k 003/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;256/10,53,50,47,48,57,58 ;174/158F,158R,161F,166S |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Taylor; Dennis L.
Claims
I claim:
1. A vertically uprightable fence construction wherein a plurality
of fence posts embedded into the earth together with wire-connector
members are adapted to maintain at least one current-carrying
conductor wire in substantial parallelism with the earth's surface,
said electrical fence construction comprising:
A. an elongate rigid metallic-rod having a lofty height extending
along an upright vertical-axis whereby said metallic-rod has an
upper-end and a lower-end, said metallic-rod having sufficient
rigidity and compressive strength that the lower-end thereof might
be embedded downwardly below the earth's surface through
compressive forces exerted along the metallic-rod vertical-axis, an
upright finite-length of said metallic-rod having a regular
transverse cross-sectional size and shape;
B. an electrically insulative uprightly extending sheath completely
surrounding and affirmatively attached along the rigid metallic-rod
upright finite-length, said sheath being chemically homogeneous and
comprising at least one-half by weight a structurally continuous
hydrophobic resinous material; and
C. a wire-connector member removably attached to the resinous
sheathed portion of the metallic-rod, said wire-connector member
including a resiliently expandable horizontal C-shaped resinous
insulator portion surrounding and frictionally engaged with the
metallic-rod resinous sheathed portion, said wire-connector
including a resiliently expandable C-shaped metallic component that
is radially spaced from the frictional contact between the
wire-connector and the metallic-rod resinous sheath.
2. The electrical fence post of claim 1 wherein the sheath resinous
material comprises a thermoplastic polymer of cellulose acetate
butyrate.
3. The electrical fence post of claim 1 wherein the resinous
insulator component of the wire-connector member includes at least
one vertical drainage hole therethrough and also includes a pair of
oppositely extending resinous tabs which are uprightly coparallel,
said two tabs being adapted to removably engage therebetween a
generally horizontal current-carrying conductor wire.
Description
Electrical fences are commonly used in farming districts and
similar open terrain to provide a secure enclosure for cattle and
other pasture stock. In this vein, electrical fences prevent
ingress and egress to the fenced enclosure by virtue of uninsulated
current-carrying conductor wires held above and substantially
parallel to the earth's surface by a plurality of incrementally
spaced upright fence posts embedded into the earth. There is
necessarily some type of means to electrically isolate the
current-carrying wires from the earth to ensure that the electric
current effectively travels horizontally along the enclosure
periphery rather than being vertically "grounded" or shunted to the
earth at a fence post station. Such electrical isolation has
usually been attained in the prior art by interposing an
electrically insulative wire-connector between the fence post and
the current-carrying wire, although some prior art workers have
made ineffective or uneconomical attempts to effect the electrical
isolation within the fence post itself. Moreover, the prior art has
had difficulty in uprightly stably anchoring the common rod-like
fence posts into earth, and in providing a continuum of selectable
vertical heights for the one or more current-carrying conductor
wires.
It is accordingly the general object of the present invention to
provide an electrical fence construction having a plurality of
economical rigid rod-like fence posts securely embeddable into the
earth, wherein the presence of an electrically isolative
wire-connector between the rod-like fence post and the
current-carrying wire is unnecessary, or purely optional.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an
economical fence post that tends to remain desireably perpendicular
to the earth's surface for long periods of time.
It is a further object to provide an electrically insulative
wire-connector member that is readily vertically movable along an
upright rod-like fence post whereby the height of the
current-carrying wire above the earth's surface can be selectively
and continuously varied, and indefinitely maintained at the chosen
height. It is an ancillary object to provide a said wire-connector
member than can be safely manually vertically moved to a selected
height without the use of special tools.
With the above and other objects and advantages in view, which will
become more apparent as the description herein proceeds, the
electrical fencing of the present invention generally comprises a
plurality of upright fence posts, the individual fence posts
including an elongate rigid metallic-rod loftily extending along an
upright vertical-axis together with an uprightly extending resinous
electrically insulative sheath completely surrounding and attached
to the metallic-rod whereby an elongate uninsulated conductor wire
is securely removably attachable to a sheathed elevation of the
fencing post. Preferably, there is an intervening novel
wire-connector member between the uninsulated conductor wire and
the fence post sheathed portion, said wire-connector comprising a
resiliently expandable C-shaped portion adapted to frictionally
engage a sheathed portion of the fence post. Moreover, the lower
portion of the fencing post might carry an angular anchor-plate
that is unusually suited to maintain the fencing post perpendicular
to the earth's surface.
In the drawing, wherein like characters refer to like parts in the
several views, and in which:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a typical length of electrical
fencing wherein the novel sheathed fence post of the present
invention is employed to maintain one or more elongate uninsulated
conductor wires in elevation above and in general parallelism with
the earth's surface.
FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional fragmentary elevational view taken
along line 2--2 of FIG 1 to show certain novel features of the
upright sheathed fence post of the present invention, together with
the preferred type C-shaped wire-connector member, and also an
angular anchor-plate to ensure perpendicularity of the sheathed
fence post with respect to the earth's surface.
FIG. 3 is a sectional plan view taken along lines 3--3 of FIGS. 1
and 2.
FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the FIG. 1 embodiment taken along line
4--4 of FIG. 2.
FIG. 5 is a sectional elevational view similar to FIG. 2 showing an
alternate embodiment C-shaped type wire-connector.
FIG. 6 is a sectional fragmentary elevational view similar to FIG 2
showing a fence post embodiment with a structurally continuous
integral protuberance with respect to the fence post lofty
metallic-rod portion.
FIG. 7 is a sectional plan view similar to FIG 3 showing another
alternate embodiment C-shaped type wire-connector, and also showing
advantageous use of an irregularly surfaced metallic-rod
immediately adjacent to the resinous sheath of the sheathed fence
post.
FIG. 8 is a sectional elevational view of the alternate embodiment
wire-connector taken along line 8--8 of FIG. 7.
FIG 1 discloses a representative length of typical electrical
fencing for the novel sheathed fence post of the present invention.
There is a plurality of elongate upright fence posts "T" embedded
into the earth "E" whereby the lower end "B" of each fence post "T"
is located some few inches below the earth's surface "F." Moreover,
each fence post "T" extends longitudinally along an upright
vertical-axis "Y" that is substantially perpendicular to the
earth's surface. One or more elongate current-carrying conductor
wires (herein as uninsulated wire "H") is each supplied with
electrical current from a remote source (not shown) and passes
transversely alongside each fence post eg "T," above the earth's
surface and in substantial parallelism therewith. Although it is
permissible that the conductor wire(s) "H" be tied directly to the
longitudinally extending electrically insulative sheathed length
e.g. 20, of the novel fence post herein, it is sometimes preferable
to utilize an intervening wire-connector member e.g. 30, 50,
70.
Turning initially to FIGS. 1-4, the said vertically uprightable
representative fence post "T" having upper end "A" and lower end
"B" comprises an elongate rigid metallic-rod 10 along the entire
upright length of post "T." Thus, metallic-rod 10 extends loftily
along vertical-axis "Y" and has an upper-end 11 at "A" and a
lower-end 12 at "B." Metallic-rod 10 has sufficient rigidity that
the lower-end 12 thereof might be embedded into the earth "E"
through compressive forces exerted along the metallic-rod
vertical-axis "Y" as through upper-end 11, or through an optional
anchoring-plate 40. For example, metallic-rod 10 might be in the
form of a cylindrical solid iron rod having a diameter of typically
one-fourth to one-half inch.
There is an electrically insulative upright sheath 20 extending
along and attached to metallic-rod 10, said sheath 20 completely
surrounding metallic-rod 10 and vertical-axis "Y." The said sheath
20 extends for at least two inches vertically along an
uninterrupted length of metallic-rod 10. The sheath top-end must be
located above the highest permissible elevation for the uppermost
conductive wire e.g. "H;" herein, sheath top-end 21 is at
metallic-rod upper-end 11. Analagously, the sheath bottom-end must
be located below the lowest permissible elevation for the lowermost
conductor wire e.g. "H;" herein, the bottom-end 22 of sheath 20 is
at metallic-rod lower-end 12. Electrically insulative sheath 20
comprises a chemically homogeneous structurally continuous
hydrophobic resinous material as the major gravimetric proportion
thereof, and preferably such major proportion exceeds 80 percent.
The presence of fillers, pigments, and similar inorganic materials
tend to decrease the electrically insulative properties of the
sheath, and such inorganic materials should gravimetrically
comprise no more than a minor proportion of the sheath structural
material. The above described resinous sheathing completely
surrounding and attached to the metallic-rod has been found to
provide adequate insulation between the metallic-rod 10 and
uninsulated conductor wires to the extent that the conductor wire
might be wrapped directly securely upon the sheathed portion
without the use of an intervening electrically insulative
wire-connector e.g. 30, 50, 70.
There are two basic methods by which the resinous sheath might be
affirmatively attached to the metallic-rod. First, there is the
"tubular sleeve" method wherein the metallic-rod is inserted
axially along a cross-sectionally similar tubular resinous sleeve.
The resinous tubular sleeve might be of a thermoplastic resin,
which is later thermally adhered directly to the metallic-rod as
alluded to in FIG. 7; alternatively, an intervening layer of
adhesive might be employed between the sleeve and the metallic-rod,
analagous to annular layer 29. Second, there is the "amorphous
application" method wherein an amorphous flowable form of the
resinous material is adherently applied to the metallic-rod. For
example, the metallic-rod (perhaps also including anchor-plate 40)
might be briefly dipped into or extruded through a "hot melt" of a
suitable thermoplastic resin. Or alternatively, a suitable resin
(thermoplastic or thermosetting) might be admixed with volatile
solvent to provide a "lacquer;" the lacquer is then sprayed,
coated, or dip-coated onto the metallic-rod, and subsequently dried
to provided the adherent resinous sleeve. The full length type
sheath arbitrarily selected for the FIGS. 1-4 embodiment, is
readily attained with the lacquer dip-coating variety of "amorphous
application," said method resulting in a uniformly thin and
economical sheath. Specifically, the resinous material utilized for
sheath 20 of FIGS. 1-4 comprises a solid thermoplastic polymer of
cellulose acetate butyrate, said material being hydrophobic, tough,
highly weather-resistant, and exceedingly adherent to ferrous
metallic-rod 10. The sheath 20 is preferably about 10 mils thick,
at a coating weight of two grams per square inch. Adhesion between
sheath 20 and smoothly surfaced ferrous metallic-post 10 was found
to be enhanced by twice dip-coating the metallic-rod in lacquer,
the first dip-coat being of higher solvent content to provide an
annularly thinner but more adherent intervening primer layer 29
(FIG. 3).
As can best be seen in FIG. 4, anchoring-plate 40 is affirmatively
attached to metallic-rod 10 and is located nearer to lower-end 12
than to upper-end 11 and embeddable downwardly through the earth's
surface "F." Anchoring-plate 40 is provided of a single triangular
piece of rigid but thin sheet metal (such as 1 millimeter strap
iron), a central portion 45 being transverse of and attached to
metallic-rod 10. The single metal piece is provided with two
permanent right-angle vertical bends 41 and 42 disposed on opposite
sides of vertical-axis "Y." Thus, as can best be seen in FIG. 4,
angular anchor-plate 40 includes two terminal ears 42 and 44
extending perpendicularly in opposite directions from the
anchor-plate central portion 45. Accordingly, when anchoring-plate
40 is embedded into the earth "E," the right-angle relationship
between portions 42, 44, and 45, tends to ensure that the fence
post remains vertically perpendicular with respect to the earth's
surface "F." Exceedingly secure engagement between the
anchoring-plate 40 and the metallic-rod 10 is attained when the
central portion 45 is integrally provided with semi-circular bent
straps, e.g. 46, 47, each weldable strap being adapted to partially
surround circular metallic-rod 10. As is shown in FIG. 2, sheath 20
may optionally extend downwardly to metallic-rod lower-end 12,
including anchoring-plate 40.
It is oftentimes desireable that there be a readily removable
attachment between the fence post and the uninsulated wire
conductor, and for such purpose, a suitable intervening
wire-connector member has been traditionally employed. Moreover, it
is oftentimes desireable that the uninsulated wire conductor have a
selectable elevation with respect to the earth's surface, and for
such purpose, wire-connector members adapted to be attached to the
fence post at one or more selectable elevations have been
developed. The novel wire-connector member, e.g. 30, 50, 70, of the
present invention is unusally suited to provide a readily removable
attachment of continuous selectable elevation for the uninsulated
wire conductor. Wire-connector members 30 and 70 each comprise a
springy metallic C-shaped portion, e.g. 31, 71, partially
surrounding the fence post longitudinal vertical-axis and adapted
to frictionally engage the upright external surfaces of the fence
post. Moreover, the C-shaped portion is resiliently expandable (as
indicated in phantom line in FIG. 3) whereby the vertical elevation
of the wire-connector can be continuously selectably varied
appropriate to the desired height of the wire conductor, e.g.
"H."
For the wire-connector member 30 of FIGS. 1-3, the resiliently
expandable C-shaped portion 31 (having gap 32) is wholly provided
of a single uninsulated piece of springy metal which is removably
attached to fence post "T" through frictional engagement with
resinous sheath 20. Extending integrally uprightly from C-shaped
portion 31 (diametrically opposite gap 32) is a metallic tab 34 of
L-shaped configuration which is transversely offset from fence post
"T" whereby wire conductor "H" is supportable between sheath 20 and
tab 34. Fence post "T" has an arbitrary finite-length portion
extending along vertical-axis "Y" which is of regular transverse
cross-sectional size and shape, and the resiliently expandable
C-shaped portion 31 might be continuously vertically reciprocated
along said arbitrary finite-length to any desired employable
elevation. The wire-connector 50 of FIG. 5 differs from embodiment
30 of FIGS. 1-3 in that the metallic portions 31 and 34 adherently
carry a resinous electrically insulative coating 55 which provides
additional electrically insulative protection between the conductor
wire and the fence post.
Wire-connector embodiment 70 of FIGS. 7 and 8 differs from
embodiment 50 in that the resiliently expandable C-shaped metallic
portion 71 is separable from the C-shaped resinous body portion 75.
The C-shaped metallic portion 71 is non-adherently seated within a
larger C-shaped groove 76 of resinous body 75 whereby the entire
resinous body 75 is resiliently expandable (as indicated in phantom
line in FIG. 7). There are vertical holes 77 through resinous body
75 at groove 76 to prevent water accumulation thereat. Resinous
body 75 integrally includes a pair of parallel lugs 78 and 79 which
extend in opposite vertical directions to very securely engage the
conductor wire therebetween. The fence post "TT" of FIGS. 7 and 8
differs from fence post "T" of FIGS. 1-3 in that the upright
surfaces of metallic-rod 10A are knurled or similarly roughened to
increase adhesion between the metallic-rod and the resinous sheath
20, rather than utilizing primer layer 29 for such purpose.
FIG. 6 illustrates the situation wherein the metallic-rod 10
integrally includes an L-shaped protruding tab 64 in structurally
continuous relationship therewith. When the adherent resinous
sheath 20 also covers tab 64, a fixed elevation wire-connector
embodiment 60 results.
From the foregoing, the construction and operation of the
electrical fencing device will be readily understood and further
explanation is believed to be unnecessary. However, since numerous
modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in
the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact
construction shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable
modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within
the scope of the appended claims.
* * * * *